The Arcane Workshop sat inside the roots of an enormous tree older than most kingdoms in Evan’s world. The entrance was lit with blue torches that pulsed with stable mana flow something Evan had learned to appreciate after seeing so much instability around the city. Inside dozens of elves worked at benches shaping enchanted wood glass and crystal. Some crafted spell tools. Others repaired damaged artifacts.

Lyriel led him to the central platform where an elderly elf with silver hair examined a floating crystal through a lens shaped like a polished leaf. The elder looked up.

“Lyriel I sense disruption. Who is this human who makes the mana whisper loudly”

“This is Evan,” Lyriel said. “The analyst.”

The elder raised an eyebrow. “Analyst. A strange title for one without magic.”

Evan nodded politely. “I work with data. Numbers. Patterns.”

The elder’s eyes narrowed. “Patterns of mana”

Evan hesitated. “Yes.”

A ripple of attention spread across the workshop. Tools stopped clinking. Crystals stopped humming. Elves turned to stare.

Lyriel spoke clearly. “Evan has shown us that our magic contains measurable fluctuations. He predicted spell failures with high accuracy. I want to build tools that allow him to measure mana more effectively.”

The elder stroked his beard made of shimmering strands. “Measurement is dangerous. It exposes truth. Truth can tear apart what balance hides.”

Evan met the elder’s gaze. “Or it can fix what is broken.”

The elder studied him for a long moment then nodded. “Very well human. Show me your vision.”

Evan reached for a sheet of bark and charcoal. He drew a simple diagram of a crystal connected to several smaller stones each representing a variable: mana flow strength environmental conditions caster focus and spell structure.

He pointed to each. “If we can capture the intensity of mana pulses inside this crystal then we can log the data. Each pulse can be translated to a mark on the crystal. Over time it forms a waveform. With enough samples we can build a dashboard.”

The elder leaned closer. “A dashboard is a device of knowledge”

“Yes,” Evan said. “It shows patterns clearly. It reveals what intuition hides.”

The elder turned to the workshop staff. “Prepare resonance crystals.”

Elves brought forward several glowing stones. Evan examined them. Their glow pulsed like slow heartbeats.

“These crystals already react to mana,” Lyriel said. “But they only serve as conduits for spells. We have never used them to store information.”

Evan nodded. “Then we convert them into storage mediums. Instead of channeling mana they record it.”

The elder tapped a crystal. “How”

Evan thought. He had no electronics. No circuits. No digital storage. But he had logic and pattern recognition.

“You said these crystals are sensitive to mana, right If we expose them to stable pulses they respond consistently. If we expose them to unstable pulses they flicker. We calibrate them by mapping their glow intensity to specific data points.”

Lyriel stepped forward. “So you want to translate mana light into data values.”

“Yes,” Evan said. “Then we arrange several crystals in a row. Each one records a different variable. The mana flow around them becomes a dataset. And your magic becomes measurable.”

The workshop grew silent. The elder nodded slowly. “A dangerous idea. Ambitious but possible.”

He gestured for the elves to bring tools. They began shaping channels in the crystals carving runes and adjusting patterns. Evan directed them like a manager guiding engineers through prototyping.

He explained how to arrange crystals in arrays. How to place them near mana streams. How to standardize brightness levels so fluctuations could be compared.

Hours passed. The workshop filled with the soft hum of crystal resonance. At last the elder presented the finished prototype.

A long wooden board held five glowing crystals arranged in a row. Each crystal pulsed slightly differently responding to different aspects of the ambient mana.

Lyriel stared in awe. “It is beautiful.”

Evan smiled. “It is a dashboard.”

The elder placed his hand above the crystals and whispered a spell. Mana surged through the workshop. The crystals glowed brighter then dimmed then flared.

Evan watched carefully noting each pulse. “Look at the first crystal. The intensity rises before the mana spike. The second crystal shows droop after the spike. Together they show a pattern. A story.”

Lyriel gasped as she began to see the shifts with newfound clarity. “This is the first recorded mana fluctuation pattern in elven history.”

The elder’s voice trembled. “You have taken intuition and turned it into something visible.”

Evan nodded. “Now we build more. We track spells. We track casters. We track monsters. This is only the beginning.”

Lyriel whispered, “With enough dashboards we could predict crises before they happen.”

Evan smiled faintly. “Exactly.”

The elder bowed his head. “Human analyst you have changed the path of our craft. Go. Continue your work. We will follow your lead.”

Evan looked at the glowing crystals. This was the birth of data in a world of magic.
The first step toward the Data Empire he would one day build.